A/N: This amazing drawing was made by my bestie Yui! Isn't she talented? It was a belated gift for my birthday and I love it! It feels so good to see your characters on paper ^^ I hope you like it <3

Just like that Christmas was over and even if the snow was going to be present for a while everywhere, all the students returned to Hogwarts. The break seemed to had put everyone into a good mood because the first few days back, the group was always meeting and laughing.

Roro had seen Victoria a couple of times looking at them with longing eyes while sitting by herself  on the Great Hall. She felt guilty despite not being the one at fault at all because the Mahoutokoro’s student has also been scared by Chanyeol’s accident. Besides, someone had tried to kill her so, having no one to be around was probably a really hard thing to deal with. She let a heavy sigh escape her lips when she turned to listen to Jongdae’s probably-not-so-funny-as-he-thought story.

"… and then he began sneezing with snot running out of his nose and everything." He said laughing hard and making Xiumin and Baekhyun laugh with him. Yu and Kyungsoo just rolled their eyes at the Gryffindor’s antics.

"What did Wendy say then?" Baek asked while wiping some laughter tears.

"She told him she had to work on her Divination assignment." Dae answered smirking.

"She doesn’t take Divination though." Xiumin said frowning. Jongdae smiled his Cheshire's smile.

"Exactly my dear friend, exactly…"

Xiumin hit his shoulder and rolled his eyes at Jongdae’s cocky voice but smiled nonetheless. They were all sitting at Ravenclaw’s table on study time. Well, not like much study was being done, mind you. However it was nice to hang out with the older boys because, a side from their sense of humor, they were a great help on their assignments. Roro had finished her tutoring class with Xiumin when they found Baekhyun and Kyungsoo heading to the Great Hall. When they arrived there, Yu was buried into her Charms book, trying to make sense of the theory. The moment she saw Kyungsoo it was as if the Heavens opened for her. The Slytherin small boy was a genius with Spells and since Yixing had been getting ready for the First Trial of the Championship that was happening that Saturday, the Ravenclaw girl had been deprived of company and study partner. It was an hour later when Jongdae appeared with a eating grin.

"So, basically you prevented Wendy to go on a date with a nice guy because you don’t have the guts to ask her out, right?" Roro brother.

"I just pranked a fellow classmate. Not my fault life is full of coincidences." He answered her shrugging. Roro rolled her eyes, typical Dae.

"Whatever…"

"Roro has a point though." Baekhyun intervened. "You can’t just keep scaring every guy that tries to ask her out. She is a gorgeous girl so it is bound to happen a lot."

"Who is a gorgeous girl?" Mina’s voice startled them.

"Jongdae’s crush." Baekhyun answered simply smiling at the Slytherin girl but not receiving the smile back.

"Oh."

"Yeah…" Roro pitched in when she sensed the murderous aura around her best friend. "Dae’s too much of a chicken to man up." She laughed uncomfortably making her brother scoff to her. Mina just shrugged and joined Yu and Kyungsoo without paying much attention to the other boys. Xiumin looked at Roro wondering with a raised eyebrow while Baekhyun was sternly looking at the Slytherin girl. He suddenly got up.

"I have to head back to the dorms, Whisker’s been kind of sick lately and I have to feed him medicine." He explained taking all his things. "Are you coming or staying, Kyungsoo?"

"I’ll finish explaining this so, we’ll meet later for dinner, right?" The owl looking boy asked his best friend.

"Sure. Bye people." He waved, showed a small not genuine smile, and left. Jongdae, Xiumin and Roro looked at each other with worrying expressions.

"I’m going to head back too, I have a weird headache since this morning." Xiumin explained getting up.

"I’m sure I didn’t make it much better with my slow progress." Roro apologized shyly. Xiumin winked at her.

"You make all my afternoons better, Roro." He said making the Gryffindor girl choke and blush. Jongdae frowned.

"Could you be more subtle please? I’m right here and is my sister who you are flirting with." Jongdae grunted. Xiumin shrugged, waved smiling to everyone and left. Yu and the Slytherins were so caught up in their discussion they didn’t even notice it. Roro sighed heavily again making Jongdae look at her with both eyebrows raised.

"Popular much?" He . Roro rolled her eyes at him.

"Not intentionally, I can assure you that much." She whined and let her head rest on her brother’s shoulder. "To be honest, it makes me feel a bit uncomfortable sometimes…"

"Then you should tell him." Her brother interrupted her before finishing her sentence.

"Well, it’s not like he is doing it to hurt me, he’s just… intense? I don’t even know the word…"

"He’s a boy Sis, not coffee" Jongdae joked. "and even then, you should let him know. It doesn’t matter that he has no ill intention, if it makes you feel uncomfortable, I’m sure he will stop or at least, moderate a bit. Xiumin is a good guy."

"I’ve never said he isn’t."  She poked Jongdae’s ribs.

"I know, I’m just letting you know, just in case you wondered." He smiled softly at her. "Besides, we all know is not his flirting that you are interested on." He gave her that look.

"Oh, shut up!" Roro pushed herself away from her brother and stock out her tongue.

"I’m just saying…"

"You shouldn’t say much, lover boy." She now. At that, Jongdae zipped his lips with an imaginary zipper making Roro giggle. Her brother was so easy nowadays.

"However, Xiumin was the cause of your second big sigh, what was the other for?"

"Is there something you don’t notice?" She asked him incredulous.

"About you? No." He said smugly. "I’m your Big Brother, I have to know everything, keep my eyes and ears alert, you know."

"Whatever… it was nothing." She said moving her eyes to the place where Victoria was still writing something. Alone.

"So, that’s nothing then." He pointed to the Chinese girl with his eyes. He let some seconds for Roro to talk again. He knew she would eventually tell him.

"I just feel guilty… Since the poison episode with Chanyeol, she hasn’t been hanging with anyone and, I don’t know, she seems lonely." Roro looked at the ground.

"Well, it’s not like she hung out with us before… I know Chanyeol sometimes talks to her but he’s been quite busy these past days so, I don’t know…"

"I just think it would be nice to have someone there if you were going to participate in a mostly deadly Championship next weekend." Roro shrugged.

"Well, I can hint it to the Giant, if you are sure."

"What do you mean with that?" She looked at her brother with slanted eyes.

"Oh puh-lease, you know perfectly well what I mean." He laughed. "However, there are two things I’m most certain about now." He said nodding to himself as if reassuring his own thoughts.

"And that would be?"

"One, even if she had friends to support her, our dear Hogwarts’s Champion, the amazing Yixing, will beat her on Saturday" He said as if it was evident. "and two, you are too good for your own good." He said ruffling her hair and making her draw away from him with blushed cheeks.

Saturday morning had the whole castle excited. Almost everyone was soon to eat breakfast and all the students were buzzing with anticipation for the first trial of the Championship. Yu wanted to pretend that she was calm to not bother Yixing. She wasn’t being that successful so far.

"I’m going to be fine, babe." The Ravenclaw boy assured her for the umpteenth time that morning.

"I know, I know! Can we just go over everything again? Just one more time?"

Yixing sighed but smiled at her nodding.

"If it makes you feel better, okay."

"Thank you." She returned his smile. "So, what did the hint say?"

“At the favorite hour in the Wizarding world, to get closer to the Golden prize, show the light and the dark a Potioneer has at hand.”

“The favorite hour in the Wizarding world”  Yu repeated. "That is clearly talking about the Golden hour of the day."

"Yeah, I thought the same, the so called Magical Hour, when the Sun has just hidden. I went to the Astronomy tower to calculate it and it said 4:33 p.m" Yixing explained will pouring himself more juice. "The light and the dark though… I’m not so sure."

"It’s clearly speaking about Good and Evil. Or it could be talking about Potion colors, maybe."

"But there are not so many light colored potions… I don’t think I know any more than Veritaserum."

"Do you think they will ask you to brew it?" Yu asked impressed. Yixing frowned.

"Well, I hope not, it’s not only difficult it isn’t my best one to be honest." He bit his lower lip. "Also, it takes a whole lunar cycle to brew it!"

"Maybe they would ask about its components…"

"Or it could be a whole different thing." Suho’s voice interrupted their speculation game. "I know you want to be prepared and its great but this isn’t the Triwizards Tournament. They are not testing your bravery but your skills. I think you they are expecting quick thinking and a speed reaction time so, until you see what you are dealing with you won’t know how to approach it."

"Well, it’s good to be prepared!" Yu said a bit irritated.

"I know Yu, but stressing about it, it’s not good either." He answered with a smile showing the girl he meant no harm.

"You are probably right Suho" Yixing intervened "but I also like to be as prepared as I can. It helps me to find control, Yu knows that." He said smiling to his girlfriend and squeezing her hand under the table. The petite girl smiled back.

"So, light and dark…" She continued to analyze the hint. Suho rolled his eyes but let them be.

That afternoon after lunch time Yixing went to the assigned place. He was wearing his Championship uniform: black trousers, white shirt, blue elegant jacket with silver buttons and a dark cape with the Hogwarts crest embroidered. He was asked by the Headmistress that morning to submit his answer about the hour. As it was expected, the four participants had completed that part of the task successfully. Once that was done, the hour of the First Trial was announced to the rest of the students. He had spent the morning with his friends who had tried to cheer him up and give him confidence. It had work to some extent. He just felt a bit upset because Yu had been summoned by the teachers some minutes before he had to leave and he could have used some encouragement from his favorite person.

He had been felt confident and calm until now. Once Mcgonagall casted the spell that opened the doors to the hidden garden where the trials were going to be held, he felt his legs turned into jelly. He looked to the other three champions, all of them seemed calm and composed. Was he the only one nervous? This was a dangerous thing, why were they so calm?! Did they know what they had to do? Was he the only one in the dark? What if he screw this up? What if he lost? What if he died?!

Suddenly the room where they were waiting felt smaller. He tried to control his breath. In. Out. Slowly. In. Out. He felt nauseous and cold. He could feel the sweat on his scalp. He began to pace the floor in an attempt to synchronize his breathing. The other three were seating, each minding their own business. It was making him go crazy. Why were they so calm?! Why was he the only one panicking? This was madness. He should have refused when he had the chance. He was no champion. He wasn’t worth it. He didn’t have what was needed to be the star. He was just a Ravenclaw. Ravenclaws never made the cover. Oh, God… Was he going to embarrass himself in front of the whole school? What would Professor Narciuss say? What would Yu say? She would be so ashamed of him… She would probably break up with him! He sat down again. His hands were trembling.

"You should drink some water." A very well known voice was heard. Yixing shot his head up and looked at Jongdae with wide eyes. The Gryffindor boy smiled and gave him a water bottle. "Drink, you’ve probably sweated half a liter. Hydration is important!" He exclaimed turning to look at the other three and handing them water.

"What are you doing here?" Gandiout, Uagandou’s champion asked.

"I’ve been assigned by the Headmistress to keep you from having a panic attack." He explained them. "So, please, calm down."

The moment Jongdae said that, Yixing felt lighter. His negative thoughts were still there but the oppression on his chest disappeared. Everyone looked at him suspiciously. What was this feeling? What had he done?

"Don’t worry, I’m here to help." He smirked. "Your skills won’t be tested until the Trial, don’t worry. Focus and show everyone what you do best!" He gave them a thumbs up and a grin. Yixing was going to ask what was going on when the Heads of each school appeared.

"Let’s walk to the arena champions!" Headmistress McGonagall said with a cheery expression which was rarely seen on her.

The four champions followed her out. A deafening sound of cheers and applauses made Yixing flinch. The place was really big. It looked a lot like the Quidditch pitch but there were no towers. It was a circular patch of green grass. Around it there were wooden bleachers were the students stand. There was a small pond near the left part of the Arena. Some willow trees casted hard shadows produced from the round lights that were suspended on the air to illuminate the place. In the middle of it all, there was a long table with many things on it. On the right side of the table there were four cauldrons in line next to each other. Four small tables next to them. However, what made him gasp were the four bodies sitting, with their head hanging low, next to each cauldron. He didn’t know them but they looked injured. The amount of flesh he could see was burnt or cut, their eyes were red and swollen, their lips blue and their face full of blue spots. They were also standing in the chairs without moving.

McGonagall walked to the center of the Arena and pointed her wand to casting a Sonorous.

"Welcome to the First Trial of the Potion Championship! Today, our champions will have to prove their abilities to show the light and the dark in a Potioneer." The crowd cheered louder. "First, they will have to brew the most difficult potion they know, to the utmost completion, with the ingredients on the table. However, they will have 1 hour and a half to do so!" All the students on the crowd began muttering to each other, wondering. "Then, they will have to brew the potions needed to cure these four people here. And they would have to do so in an hour and a half!" The crowd gasped and cheered louder. "Please take your places, Champions!"

Yixing felt Professor Narcius pushing him to walk. He was beginning to feel nauseous again. Three hours? Merlin’s beard! How was he going to achieve that? He walked to his place in front of one of the cauldrons with shaky legs. He looked at the others and they were as pale as he probably was. Finally! Strangely that made him feel a bit more confident. He couldn’t hear what the Headmistress was saying anymore. He looked up the bleachers looking for the only people who could help him calm down. He realized there were students from the other schools as well. They probably arrived using port-keys since they Ministry hadn’t allowed the rest of the student body to stay at Hogwarts, just the selected Champions. Well, it was fair that all of them got the same amount of support. He found his friends a bit further on his right side. They were holding a big blue and silver banner with his name and “Pride of the Eagles!”. He smiled at them and chuckled amused. He felt a bit more relaxed. There were people cheering for him, he could do it. McGonagall was about to finish the count down when he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and focused.

"… LET THE FIRST TRIAL BEGIN!"

Yixing opened his eyes and ran to the table looking to the ingredients. Wolfsbane, Wormwood, Murtlap tentacle, Squill bulb, Occamy eggshell… Hold up. Those were the ingredients to brew Felix Felicis! He saw the Koldovstoretz’s champion began to collect them. Felix Felicis was their first task?! Too much for an easy start.

Hold up your Hippogriffs, Zhang! What was what McGonagall had said? “… to the utmost completion”. Felix Felicis took six months to be ready. It would be the most difficult but it would be not even near to completion.

He surveyed the table again. The Uagandou’s and Mahoutokoro’s were already brewing too.

Okay, don’t panic. To show the light and the dark of a Potioneer. The second part of the Trial was obviously the light. What about the dark?

He listed the ingredients again. Wormwood, Sloth brain, Valerian root… Sloth brain and Valerian root! He could brew Draught of the living dead. It was considered a dark potion in the Wizarding World. The dark in a Potioneer! It took about an hour to do so, he still had time. He began to assemble all the ingredients he needed but one thing was lacking. Water. There was no water on the table. He felt his pulse rate increase. What now?! He looked around with desperate eyes. Water, water, water… The pond! He left everything in his arms on the table, poured the Infusion of Wormwood in the cauldron and ran to the pond to collect the water. He ran back to his place and began the preparation. He had done this many times with Professor Narcius. He tried to even his breathing and calm down. He knew what to do. With more confidence than he had feel since stepping into the Arena, he began. The count down market 70 minutes left.

On the bleachers, the group of friends tried to guess what Yixing was doing. Roro thought it would be quite boring a Potion Championship but she couldn’t have been more wrong. one could feel the excitement on the air and everyone tried to guess what they were brewing.

"Is he doing what I think he is doing? No way!" Xiumin asked astonished to Suho.

"I think so." The Ravenclaw Prefect answered with an equally surprised face.

"What is it with the surprised faces?" Asked Beak frowning while trying to guess what their friend was brewing.

"I think… Well, he collect the ingredients for the Draught of the Living Dead…" Suho answered unsure. A round of gasps was heard.

"Can he do it in an hour?!" Mina asked with wide eyes.

"Maybe… I takes about an hour if you make every step perfectly." Kyungsoo answered biting his lower lip. "It is extremely difficult though…"

"Well, if someone can do it, it is Yixing right?!" Chanyeol smiled trying to cheer the mood up.

"Yeah!" Roro agreed. "He is the Hogwart’s Champion for a reason!"

Everyone agreed smiling and began cheering even harder than before. Support was the only thing they could provide for their friend. Unfortunately, he was alone against the cauldron.

"… and hands up!" The Headmistress voice was heard marking the end of the first part when Yixing had finished stirring his potion. The four champion’s put their hands in the air and stepped away from their cauldrons. "Now, while the judges examine the final potions and their quality. The Champions can begin working on the second part of the Trial!" She announced and with the flick of her wand, another set of tables, ingredients and cauldrons appeared. This time however, the cauldrons were smaller and there were four for each champion. "Ready, Set…GO!"

As soon as he heard the GO! Yixing ran up to the person sitting on his designated chair. He could see Victoria and the Koldovstoretz’s student do the same. The person seemed to be unconscious or unable to move. As he had noticed before, his arms were covered up in bruises and burns. His eyes were swollen and red around the outside. He forced them open to see the inside. Red and with a lot of mucous. It looked like Conjunctivitis. The blue lips and spots on his face looked like some poisonous effect although it was just on his face but there weren’t may poisons that provoked blue spots.

Once he had finished his exam he began collecting ingredients and brewing. He was going to brew four potions at the same time. It was insane! He could feel the sweat running down his back but he couldn’t stop. He was running on adrenaline.

"I can’t believe he's going to make four potions, I get irritated trying to achieve one." Roro whispered leaning to Chanyeol. She was standing between him and Yu who was squeezing Mina’s and her hands so hard, she had lost feeling on it half an hour ago. She wished there was more she could do to help her friend but right now, showing their silent support was what Yu needed.

"I know, right?" He agreed smiling at her from above her head.  "I guess it’s not called a Championship for nothing." He said looking back to the Arena.

"You said it was pretty famous at Mahoutokoro’s, right?" Chanyeol nodded. "Is the school some kind of Potioneers Paradise or something?"

"Hahaha what? No! It’s just a big deal because Mahoutokoro’s expertise resides on Potion making and Herbology." He explained amused.

"Oh…Do you regret not going there? It sound like a really good school." She wondered biting her lower lip.

"Not really." Chanyeol shrugged. "I mean, yeah the reason why I couldn’t go obviously saddens me but I like Hogwarts. It does feel like home." He smiled fondly at her. Roro blushed and looked back at the Arena.

"Yeah, it does." She whispered showing a small smile and leaning a bit towards the Gryffindor boy who didn’t move away.

Yixing poured the last potion, Murtlap Essence, on the small container then closed it and stepped away. Victoria and Scharnihoff had finished too while Uagandou’s champion was still stirring one potion. Suddenly, everything but the containers disappeared leaving the last champion with just three potions done instead of four. Yixing looked at the other champion’s tables. Koldovstorets’s champion had the same colored potions as him: orange, green, purple and yellow. Victoria however had the same orange and yellow ones but she had two green ones instead. The judges checked the potions again and assembled to decide the scores. Yixing felt quite confident about his chances. His Draught of the Living Dead had turned out perfect and the other four, he was confident, were the ones to cure the person.

Headmistress McGonagall stood in the middle of the Arena again. Everyone standing on the bleachers stopped talking.

"After much deliberation, the joy has decided to grant Mister Gandiout, who was unable to finish his last potion but achieved to complete the Elixir to Induce Euphoria, the third place!" Cheers and applauses were heard. "Miss Scharnihoff, who achieved to brew four potions to cure the symptoms of her patient, but who tried to brew Felix Felicis which is one of the most difficult potions to brew without a doubt but that, unfortunately, needs to rest for 6 months. That’s the reason why we are awarding her with fourth place!" There was some booing hear from the crowd. "It is good to be ambitious but a Potioneer has to be realistic too." The Headmistress waited for the crowd to diminish the sound again and continued. "Now, Miss Song and Mister Zhang both brewed perfect Draughts of the Living Dead and four potions each. However, it was Miss Song the only one to notice one symptom correctly. While Mister Zhang brewed an Anti-paralysis Potion, Miss Song read the patient better and realized he was not paralyzed but asleep. Therefore brewing a Wiggenweld Potion to counter the effects of the same Draught of the Living Dead!" Cheers and applauses were heard around the place. The Mahoutokoro students celebrating their victory.

Yixing was walking to the Great Hall for dinner with slumped shoulders. He sighed. Well, second place was okay too. However, he was a bit ashamed to show his face at dinner. He knew none of his friends would say anything bad but it worried him anyway. He was turning the corner when he bumped into Purtrefs and Leveratag.

"Hey! The Hogwart’s Pride!" The Slytherin boy greeted him smiling.

"You were great Yixing! Not as great as that Song girl but great too." The girl smiled at him. However, her smile made him feel a bit uneasy. Was that supposed to be a compliment?

"Yeah well… I’ll try harder next time."

"Sure man, remember to come to our sessions, you need a bit improving, eh?" The other boy hit his shoulder in what was supposed to be a playful act but Yixing felt a sting on it.

"Sure, sure…"

"Well, we have some things to do, if you’ll excuse us." Leveratag smirked and took Purtrefs’ hand, walking away with the giggling girl behind.

So it was true they were going out, huh? Yixing shook his head and kept walking. Somehow that last encounter didn’t seem that friendly to him. He sighed when he arrived to the big and tall doors. The moment he stepped in a deafening applause began. He looked up and gasped when he saw the whole student body applauding and cheering him. His Professors were standing and clapping too. He smiled embarrassed and walked quickly to his seat. Yu smiled at him and once everyone got back to their own meals, she pecked him squeezing his hand.

"Don’t beat yourself up, Xing. You were the most wonderful Potioneer today." She smiled at him.

"I think you have quite a biased opinion." He chuckled.

"Probably" She agreed "but I’m also never wrong." She winked at him.

So, that's it! We're already on the first trial of the Potion Championship! :) It required a lot of investigation to form the trial but I'm quite pleased how it turned up \ ( ^ - ^)/ 

I hope you like how the story is developing! I'm looking forward to your feedback :) Thank you to the readers who leave comments, it means the world to me! Also, to the subscribers and the people who upvoted this story! 
I'll try to come sooner for the next chapter! 
Love <3

Roro